[Project Complete] Outdoor/Offroad Site Homepage & Forum Page $450

[stwilson]

(Admin code added by Michael - AB308522C)

Well, it's time to update the old website look and feel. I have used DO many times in the past for banner and it's now time to cleanup my website. I will follow the template and hope this generates some most excellent designs.

Company name: Riding Arizona

Company profile: Riding Arizona is an off-highway-vehicle (OHV) network, specializing in Arizona trail information for riders of motorcycles and quads. We specialize in priding an environment where our members can share trail information, photos, discussions, and more. Our goal is to update the look and feel of our website to better match our target audience, to represent the size of our organization (over 7,000 members) and to just plain make it look better/modern.

Domain name: www.RidingArizona.com

What is the scope of this project?: Redesign of home-page(landing page) plus forum-based page (based on Snitz - http://forum.snitz.com/), to include navigation. (2 pages total)

Who is the intended audience?: 25-40 year olds, predominantly male. They range from single to married with children but they are all adventurous.

Mood or tone?: Energy, outdoors, dirt/dusty, speed, adventure, power, and professional! People who participate in this sport are into the adventure and excitement of riding in the outdoors on their motorcycles and ATVs.

Color psychology?: Earthy tones but has to tie into trail sign brown(704E2B)(http://ridingarizona.com/forum/uploaded/shannon/saffelcanyon/images/DCP_3835.jpg), chrome, earthtones, dusty but crisp, not overly dark-so white space is OK.

Any dynamic elements?: Forum based site, member login, etc.

Who are your main competitors?: Great question, tough answer. None of our real competitors have sites that are worth looking at. However, the following are good sites that could be considered our competition.
http://www.exriders.com
http://www.bluetraxx.com/
http://www.gomxracing.com/

What resources can you provide?:
Riding Arizona Logo, images of riders, trails, etc. Logos can be found here: http://ridingarizona.com/ra2.zip For images, feel free to use your own or those I have uploaded here http://ridingarizona.com/redesign/index.htm.

Websites you like:
1. http://www.travelnevada.com - Good use of imagery and earthy colors. I like that the images change upon every reload (just like this site: https://emas.apollogrp.edu/exchange/logon.asp). This is similar to what I am looking for in a landing page. If you use navigation on the home page (preferred), I prefer it be consistent with the main forum page, if possible. I need two calls to action, register (primary) and login (secondary).
2. http://www.forumnz.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=25 - Probably the best example of the scale of what I am looking for regarding the forum part of this contest. Design is clean and attractive, kinda techy/chromey, but not overdone. Now this might be a little too techy for my target audience but it is attractive. Put a little outdoors spin on it and that is what I am looking for. I prefer more imagery (people or places) than the shapes and such in the top header. I prefer the navigation towards the top, like this site, because my members post lots of photos and the width of screen is important. I prefer top navigation over side. However, I have too many navigation items for a navigation that does not allow for at least one layer of drill-down like the example above. I really like the wavy top and bottom treatments and could envision those being tire tracks or a trail or something related to my sport. The things I do not like or would change about this design are: a little too dark, I need a banner spot on the top of every forum page (not home page though) for a 468X60 banner, and I need a login and password field towards the top like my existing site.
3. http://www.groundtradesxchange.com - Forum based, good use of color and graphics to minimize the square corner look of most forums
4. http://www.mooseracing.com/index_FLASH.jsp - LOVE IT!!! Really like the look, use of color and tone but I prefer not to have Flash, as I have to maintain it and I don't know Flash.
5. http://www.oakley.com/ - I really like the energy and imagery this site portrays.

Deadline: February 14th, 2005 midnight

Details/Notes: I am looking for a new landing page (http://ridingarizona.com) and subsequent main forum page(http://ridingarizona.com/forum).

For the landing page I am looking for imagery similar to the Nevada site above but please use your creative skills. This is the kind of information one can find at our site:

-Trail Information
-Photo Gallery
-Find Riding Partners
-GPS Waypoints
-Links Directory
-Rider's Guide
-Events Calendar
-Classified Ads

Additionally, there should be two calls to action on the home page: Register and Login. Like I said above, you do not need to have navigation but if you do please keep it consistent with the forum page navigation.

This page must also cater to our target audience, which represents three areas. All three make up our target audience so all three need to be represented in the design.

-sport ATVs (pic: http://www.ridingarizona.com/forum/uploaded/Jeff%20Henson/20051172834_Don%20Singer.jpg)
-2-wheeler/dirtbikes (pic: http://www.ridingarizona.com/forum/uploaded/dezracer380/2005119162459_District37.jpg)
-utility ATVs (pic: http://www.ridingarizona.com/forum/uploaded/fooll/2005116141349_Fooll01.jpg)

The representation for the above can be images that change upon every page reload or a combination of images to represent all three target markets. I kinda favor the changing of image on reload but am open to your design flare.

For the forum page I am looking for a page design to dress up my forum. I am assuming most of your efforts would be in the header/footer, navigation and a minimal amount of attention to the forum cell colors to make the site easier on the eyes, etc. ***Please make sure your design allows for a 468X60 banner in the header and footer.

I'm looking for the pages in HTML form (including layered psd). Please use fonts that you can send over with the files, so we can update the site ourselves. Keep in mind the forum font is basic Arial text.

For the navigation, I am assuming you will have to employ a more dynamic solution, one that allows for main and sub-categories. Here are my main/sub categories:
Home
My
- Inbox
- Profile
- Buddies
Forum
- Active Topics
- Members
- Polls
- Register
- Search
Trail Guide
Calendar
Links
Site
- About Us
- FAQ
- Newsletter
- Rules
- Sponsors
- Supporting Members
Shop
- Classifieds
- Store
- Member Discounts

That's it. I know I forgot something but I will await your questions. I hope I have not been too long-winded. Looking forward to your questions and designs.

[Luc]

Are you looking for the forum too be coded too and inclusive of icons?

[stwilson]

Luc,

I will address your easy question first. No, I do not expect you to provide forum icons. I will run that as another contest.

I do expect the design for the forum home page (http://www.ridingarizona.com/forum/default.asp) to be forum friendly, meaning the designer has to understand the design and navigation will need to be split and made forum friendly. I am not expecting the designer to recode that page, for I will use a developer for that but I am expecting the designer to split the design.

Here is a text version of the code that makes up the forum main page. http://www.ridingarizona.com/forum/default.txt This should help you see how the page is constructed and provide the insight needed to guide your design elements. If you need to see the code behind any other pages please let me know and I will post them here.

Basically, Design Outpost is a great example of what I'm trying to do. This is a vBulletin forum but it looks nothing like the standard vBulletin forum. I'm tired of my forum looking so drab and stale.

[stwilson]

I wanted to note the design for the forum homepage should be flexible to handle different screen resolutions, just like Design Outpost. Most of our members are at 1024X768 or 800X600 but I want the design to be somewhat flexible, not limited to a specific screen size.

[stwilson]

My apologies to anyone who has already started on this contest but I have updated the Riding Arizona logo ZIP file from the original post. The one I uploaded yesterday had the wrong color brown logo in it. :blush:

With this redesign, my partner and I are changing the brown in our logo to one that is a couple of shades darker and I mistakenly uploaded our existing color logo, which is a lighter shade of brown.

Because of this I have updated the Riding Arizona logo ZIP file mentioned in the original post. Please download the new files. My apologies for the change but I am assuming this will impact the design.

[Squad]

this is something where i would like to participate.

Please try to upload pictures (around 640px wide, wider would be better) that you like... pictures will be very important for the home page.

I will come up with something in 4-5 days i think.

[stwilson]

I have uploaded a zip file to my server with quite a few pics on it. I am still collecting more and will post more tomorrow. Here is a URL to the first batch:

http://ridingarizona.com/ra-photos.zip

An important note I should mention is I am trying to strike a balance between the dirtbikes (2 wheels) and quad/ATV (4 wheels). My target audience rides one or the other, so I don't want to be to quad/ATV heavy or too dirtbike heavy.

Please let me know if you need any further direction.

[stwilson]

I just wanted to give an update on my photos. I am expecting more professional quality photos but will not be able to post them until this weekend. I have enlisted our 7,000 members and I have some great ones in transit but it will take me a few days to get them collected. If you want to get a sense of what is coming you can see the low-res versions here:

http://www.ridingarizona.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10695
http://www.ridingarizona.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12077
http://www.ridingarizona.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12482

Shannon
RidingArizona.com

[stwilson]

For the photos I wanted to give a little more direction. I will provide plenty of photos to pick from. With that said I wanted to make sure you designers understood what I am trying to accomplish.

I am trying to represent what Riding Arizona is, the largest collection of Arizona dirtbikers and ATVers on the planet. I need to cover a few specific areas of the sport; dirtbikes, sport ATVs, and utility ATVs. The difference between the sport and utility ATV is the utility has all the racks on the front and back and is much larger. You will see the difference between the two in the photos. One other thing to note is our members cover all areas; men, women, children, young and old, so I am trying to be PC. That's it for now...I will post up any other thoughts I can think of and will get the rest of the photos loaded by the weekend.

[pod]

Hi

Here is my first draft I will looking forward for your comments & questions.

Thanks

[stwilson]

Pod,

Thanks for getting things started. Here are my initial thoughts.

1. What does the forum page look like in comparison to this page? That will help me see the transition. I want to see how the forum header ties into this page design.

2. Calls to action - I need two calls to action on the home page, as stipulated in the contest details, registration and login. I do not see this in your design. Can you add a login area and change the Start Now to something like New Riders Signup Here and make it more prominant?

3. Navigation - the navigation you have appears overly crowded. Are you planning for a dynamic navigation solution, allowing for categories and subcategories? I will need a navigation that will allow me to add a few more subpages without having to redo the design. I do not like bottom navigation, unless it is identical to the top because some of my forum pages can get pretty long.

4. Design/Imagery - Can you tell me if the image of the ATV racer #84 will change upon page refresh? I have to appeal to sport ATVers (shown in your design) and 2-wheelers (the motorcycles) and utility ATV owners (similar to the photo you used but the machine is larger and has racks on it). They all make up my target market and this design would cater to only the sport ATVers. If the image will not change you will need to include those other types of riders in the page design. Also, on the design, it appears very flat. Is there anything you can do to give it some depth?

5. Color - I know brown is a hard color. However, the whole site does not need to be exclusively brown. Try to add in some additional earthy colors to spruce it up some. I DO NOT want the overall look to be dark. I'm trying to keep it fun, interactive and friendly.

I hope I have asked enough question to give you the direction needed. If not, ask me to explain more. Thank you again for getting the party started.

[pod]

Hi
Thanks for detailed feedback it will be helpfull for my revisions and other entrys..
I can add a dynamic navigation and rotating pictures with flash is it acceptable for you?
I will post the revisions as soon as possible

Thanks

[stwilson]

Flash is OK I guess. I have it but don't use it enough. As long as I can make minor edits to the design FLASH is ok.

[stwilson]

Just curious...are there any other designers who plan to participate in this contest? :)

[Lori]

Shannon,

I am trying to get some time to get an entry for you. With the deadline still a good few days off, I am hoping to get in :)

[pickadesign]

Hi,

I'll be entering as well, just doing a bit of balancing, but your project is on my to do list, and should have something very soon, definitely before the proposed deadline.

Thanks

[Squad]

i'll enter something before the deadline. don't worry, a lot of proposals will come near the ending date i think.

[stwilson]

Wow. That is good news. Thank you all for your replies.

[stwilson]

Update. I have updated my original post to better describe what I am looking for. Additionally, I have added a new link to the photos I have that can be used. You are still free to use your own but the ones I have uploaded are very representative of my organization. I have higher resolutions of most of them, if needed. Looking forward to the designs.

[cosmic]

This is what I envision for the landing page.

Here is the first of two concepts. The main picture will change upon page refresh.

4 examples of different pics:


http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/ridingArizona1A.gif



http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/ridingArizona1B.gif



http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/ridingArizona1C.gif



http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/ridingArizona1D.gif

[cosmic]

Concept 2:

http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/ridingArizona2A.gif

http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/ridingArizona2B.gif

http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/ridingArizona2C.gif

http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/ridingArizona2D.gif

[stwilson]

Cosmic,

Let me first say thank you for your design comps. They look fantastic! I am collecting my thoughts and will post up some feedback later tonight.

[stwilson]

Cosmic,

OK. I am favoring design #2. Can you please re-download the Riding Arizona logo from the link in the original post. It looks like the logo you have is one of the incorrect ones I posted that is the wrong color. My apologies. This should change the logo color.

On the design, I really like what you have done. I like the mix of colors. A few changes I would like to see:

1. The logo is taller than the cell to the right of it in design #2. Can you balance that out some?

2. The text that describes Riding Arizona, just to the right of the logo. Is there anything you can do to make it a little more appealing. I don't want it to be overpowering but appealing.

3. Our tag line - One Trail At A Time (TM). Can you add that to design #2 in some capacity?

4. Can you flip the Register Now and Member login spots. I would like to see it the other way.

That's it for now. Like I said, I really like what you have done and am excited to see what you propose for the forum header/footer/layout. Thanks for posting.

[Luc]

Just letting you know i plan to enter

[KiT10]

Here's my entry :)!
Please let me know your comments on this!

Thanks!

[stwilson]

Kit10,

Thank you for your design! It looks great. I will mull it over and post feedback later today.

[cosmic]

Revisions:

http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/ridingArizona3.gif

[stwilson]

Cosmic,

Looking good. Now what do you have for the forum based page?

[stwilson]

Kit10,

Thank you for your design submission. I like what you have so far. I would like to suggest a few changes:

1. I need better representation of the utility quad portion of our market. Can you replace some of the other photos with riders on these machines? I like the dirtbike (2 wheels) and yellow sport quad, so keep them in place.

2. Can you replace one of the photos with a scenic shot? I think the one under the register now would be the best place or the photo just above it that is just under the RA logo would be an ideal spot too. Keep in mind item #1 above.

3. The middle portion of the design appears choppy. This may be addressed with the replacement of photos, as identified in #1 and #2.

4. I do not like the Riding Arizona logo hole punched. Can you do something else with it?

5. The Riding Arizona....One Trail At A Time appears faded in the design. It appears almost subliminal. Can you give it some more punch or move the logo over there to help with this?

So I do not leave you with all changes, I must say I really like:

1. The navigation on the home page.
2. The balance of the page and use of colors that compliment our tough to match logo.
3. The layers and depth you have in the design.

I can't wait to see what you come up with for the forum based page. Looking forward to your revisions.

[stwilson]

Cosmic,

One last question/request on this homepage. What would it look like if I asked you to add navigation to this design?

[cosmic]

Revisions:

http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/ridingArizona4a.gif


with a solid brown bar at the bottom:

http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/ridingArizona4b.gif

[KiT10]

Here is the revised layout :)
Should I get started designing a forum page based on this layout?

[stwilson]

Cristina,

Almost. :) Can you replace the image in the lower right hand corner with the one on this page? This one is a utility quad.

http://ridingarizona.com/redesign/pages/CK%20026%20Fooll.htm

[stwilson]

Cosmic,

I favor this one. No more edits necessary. :D Please use this as the basis for the forum page. I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Revisions:

http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/ridingArizona4a.gif


with a solid brown bar at the bottom:

[KiT10]

Changed the photo :)

[dziner]

Hi, here is an entry from me, I will be happy to make any revisions you would like to see. As I was working on this I realized that you have some great photographers as members on your site!

Also, for this layout I think it would really look good on a darker background.
Thanks!
**image removed**

[stwilson]

dziner,

Thanks for your design comp. A few thoughts:

1. The navigation appears scattered. Are you envisioning the navigation would be in the areas to the left and in the top header? What you have in the top header for navigation does not match what I posted as my categories, so I'm just a little confused. Can you clarify if the areas to the left will contain navigational elements?

2. Selection of pics. Can you change the one on the far left, just below the one in the sand, to this one: http://ridingarizona.com/redesign/p...026%20Fooll.htm. Also, can you put the cactus one in the middle of the two pics?

3. The Riding Arizona logo. Can you find a way to leave it in-tact? The symbolism is that it resembles a trail sign, so it is important to keep it in-tact. In your design the logo has lost its look. :)

That's it for now. The rest looks very appealing to the eye. Looking forward to see what you come up with for the forum page.

[dziner]

Hi, I will be happy to make the changes but the link for the replacement pic is not working for me.

Thanks!

[dziner]

Hi, I can rearrange the navigation more if needed. All of the revisions are done except for swapping the picture. (the link didn't work for me)

Thanks!
**image removed**

[stwilson]

Try this link for that picture:

http://ridingarizona.com/redesign/pages/CK%20026%20Fooll.htm

[cosmic]

the designer has to understand the design and navigation will need to be split and made forum friendly

I don't fully understand.

[stwilson]

Ken,

This comment was specific to the forum page. Basically, the focus should be on the header/footer, background and table colors and any images/graphics for table headers.

If you look at this site: http://www.forumnz.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=25

What I see is a header with navigation and footer, use of color in the cells within the table, and some graphics to head up the individual tables. Another example: http://www.groundtradesxchange.com. The same thing there, the use of a header/footer and cell colors.

I am looking for a design that compliments the home page design you entered. Not overly dark. Most of the attention should be in the header and footer. In the header and footer, there MUST be a spot for a 468X60 banner. I forgot to mention this in my original post. :(

I would like the design to be forum friendly, specifically, able to satisfy different screen widths without degrading the design. If you look at the Design Outpost site you will see what I am trying to accomplish. I need to add some color and design to my forum without being too overbearing. Does this help???

[stwilson]

Here are the basic fonts I have to choose from in my forum:

Arial (nice, clean, legible font)
Courier (a typewriter font)
Helvetica (another clean, legible font)
Sans Serif (Arial & Helvetica are variants of Sans Serif)
Times New Roman (a book-type font)
Verdana (another clean, legible font) (default)

Right now my forum is set to Verdana. I just wanted to mention this in case you choose to go with a different font.

[pickadesign]

Hi,

I'll have an entry for you by tomorrow.

Thanks

Delano

[stwilson]

Excellent. Looking forward to any other "buzzer beater" designs that come in.

[Luc]

Sorry i said I will enter. But i've been busy lately. I'm finishing my entry today and should be posted a little later. Pls pls pls wait. I really like the topic.

[Luc]

Here's my entry. This is the landing page. Inner page and forum, will match this but will have enough space for contents.

[pickadesign]

Here are two versions from me. I'm also working now on integrating this style into a forums page, so you'll see how that could look. The drop down is to show you what the menu would be for the links that have drop down sub-menus.

[pickadesign]

#2

[pickadesign]

Possible forums page.

[stwilson]

Here's my entry. This is the landing page. Inner page and forum, will match this but will have enough space for contents.

Luc,

Can you show me what you were thinking for the inner forum based page? I have no requested changes at this time.

[stwilson]

#2

I like this one better. Is there any way you can restore the Riding Arizona logo, so that it is not altered. I need it to look like a trail sign. I like what you have done with this page a lot. Can you tell me on the navigation in your design if it will allow for nested menus, meaning the ability to drill down?

[pickadesign]

No problem, I'll restore the logo to as it was so it looks like a trail sign, and also the menu can be adjusted for nested menus if required. I'll post another update.

[pickadesign]

Update and change as you requested.

[pickadesign]

Forums with logo restored, but I have a question with the forums. How was this to be formatted? I based it off what your current forums is laid out, as I'm not sure how customizable your forums script is (never used it). I checked out other sites using the script and some have the forums actually loading within the template removing the standard forum look.

For example: http://www.astronomy.com/asy/community/forum/Default.asp?

Do you want yours like that where the main template can load the forum in the body?

[pickadesign]

Here's an updated forums page that combined the header look of the home page with the flow of the forum.

[Anne]

Hi
Just wanted to let you know that I am working on an entry

Anne

[Anne]

Here is my entry.

Looking forward to your feedback
Anne

[stwilson]

Contest extended to the 14th.

[stwilson]

Forums with logo restored, but I have a question with the forums. How was this to be formatted? I based it off what your current forums is laid out, as I'm not sure how customizable your forums script is (never used it). I checked out other sites using the script and some have the forums actually loading within the template removing the standard forum look.

For example: http://www.astronomy.com/asy/community/forum/Default.asp?

Do you want yours like that where the main template can load the forum in the body?

My members post a lot of pics, so I need to allow the forum to consume the full width of the screen. That is why I have favored top/bottom navigation, over left-side navigation. So to answer your question, I would like the redesign focus to be on the header and footer.

I like what you have done so far. Can you tell me if the navigation you propose will allow for at least one layer of drill-down? I really need to have categories, where multiple pages are accessible from any given category. In your design you have two layers of navigation stacked and I do not favor that. It stretches the screen too much vertically. Will you be able to use a navigation script that will allow for some drill-down?

[pickadesign]

Hi,

Yeah, that's not a problem. I wasn't sure how all of that was to be aligned in regards to your preferences, so that can all be changed, and also yes I can have it drill down as you mentioned when I get to the aspect of coding the design if chosen.

Thanks for the feedback and explanation.

[stwilson]

Thanks for the clarification. I just noticed you are in Arizona too. Excellent!

[KiT10]

Hi Shannon!

Here's my version for the forum page on a 800x600 screen resolution. For higher resolutions the page will extend dynamically :)

[Luc]

Luc,

Can you show me what you were thinking for the inner forum based page? I have no requested changes at this time.

Sorry for the delay. I've been busy. I'm working on the innerpage now.

[stwilson]

Revisions:

http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/ridingArizona4a.gif

Cosmic,

Your revision which is the #31 post on this thread, can you show me what the forum based page would look like. We really liked your design but would like to see what your vision was for the forum page.

[cosmic]

I will have the forum page for you by tomorrow.

[stwilson]

Here is my entry.

Looking forward to your feedback
Anne

Anne,

Great work. I like the balance of your design. A few changes:

1. In the bar of pictures with tears across the top, can you move the #2 photo to the #3 slot, and the #3 to the #2 slot?

2. Can you swap the flying quad/atv in the Welcome to Riding Arizona section with a dirtbike (2 wheeler)? I think that would balance out the ATVs versus dirtbikes.

3. The line of ATVs on the bottom (love the use of that photo), could you add some color back to them and then show another version with them in full color? Also, it appears as though there is a line through that photo.

4. Navigation....can you tell me if the navigation you propose will allow for some level of drill-down? Can you show what that navigation would look like?

5. I would like to see what you are thinking for the forum page. Will you be posting a comp for that?

That's it. Looking good. You guys and gals are making this tough!

[Luc]

Subpage:
http://www.weevox.com/do/riding_arizona_subpage.jpg

http://www.weevox.com/do/riding_arizona_subpage2.jpg

http://www.weevox.com/do/riding_arizona_forum.jpg

[Luc]

I have one more version :D

[Anne]

Hi and thank you for the feedback.
I'll make a revision and the forum page

Anne

[Luc]

One more.

[stwilson]

Hi Shannon!

Here's my version for the forum page on a 800x600 screen resolution. For higher resolutions the page will extend dynamically :)

KiT10,

Great! No other mods needed. Just waiting for the other designs to come in now. Thank you for your work!

[stwilson]

One more.

Luc,

Thank you. Everything looks great. I am waiting for the other forum based pages to come in and I will make a decision then. No need to make any more modifications at this time. Thank you for your hard work!

[Luc]

Here's for the forum. I had fun working on this contest :)

[cosmic]

http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/ridingArizona_Forum.gif



http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/ridingArizona_Forum2.gif

[Anne]

Here's the revision for the home page

[Anne]

and with a drop down menu

[Anne]

and the forum

[Luc]

Any update for us?

[stwilson]

My apologies for the delay to all of the designers who participated in this contest. I would like to thank all of you for your efforts and brilliant work.

With all that said, I have selected Anne's designs. Moderators can you please move this to the Revisions Forum?

Congratulations Anne! I do have a few minor modificaitons I would like to request and will do so after the thread has been moved.

[Anne]

Wow, thank you for selecting my design. What a great surprise

I am ready to make the revisions :)
Anne

[stwilson]

Anne,

Ok. Here are a few things I would like changed.

1. The Riding Arizona logo you have used in your designs is the wrong color (my fault). Can you download the logo again here: http://ridingarizona.com/ra2.zip. This logo is a darker brown and has the www.ridingarizona.com under it. I would like to use the logo with the www.ridingarizona.com under it if possible.

2. I am a little concerned with the vertical height of the homepage. I would like to keep that page so that the user does not have to scroll at all. Most of my users are at 1024X768 or 800X600. How will that page look at those resolutions?

3. On the forum based page:
a. On this page could you remove the quad rider in the upper right hand corner from the background picture? I think the sand and sky are great but do not want to show the quad rider on every forum page. I would also be OK with the background being that tan and sky blue without it being an image. My desire is to keep the page size down.
b. I'm averaging 160,000+ hits per day so the overall page size is important. I need to keep it lean, very lean.
c. Again, I am concerned how the page will look on 1024X768 versus 800X600. Will the page scale without looking too funny?
d. The navigation looks too large for the page. It appears to be larger than the Riding Arizona logo. Can you make it smaller so it doesn't overpower the logo?
d1. If I were to ask you to move the top banner spot and login areas up to the right of the logo and move the navigation down, what would that look like?
d2. I am concerned what the impact of the page size will be because of a graphical navigation. Also, how will is scale for larger/smaller screen sizes?
e. I am not too keen on the color of the alternating cell in the forum layout. In your design it has the text Arizona Trail Talk in it. Can you suggest a more hip color to tie into the design?
f. Can you add a 468X60 banner spot to the bottom of this page too? I would like it above the line of quads that are on the bottom.

That's it. If anything I have mentioned is not clear please let me know.

[Anne]

Here's the revisin for the home page.
I've replaced the logo and made the design fit a 800x600 resolution

Anne

[Anne]

Here are the changes for the forum page.

I am not liking how the navigation menu looks now, in my opinion it looks to small compared to the rest of the page. Maybe it would be a good idea to make the navigation for this page text only instead of using images. As it is now it won't scale. Let me know what you think, do you want me to try a simpler navigation system?

btw. I am going away for easter on wednesday so I won't be able to do any work until next week.

Anne

[stwilson]

Here's the revisin for the home page.
I've replaced the logo and made the design fit a 800x600 resolution

Anne

Ann,

ON the main page, I noticed the upper-left-hand corner is rounded differently then the other three corners. Could you make it more similar to the other three?

The Riding Arizona logo with the www under it looks funny now. please remove the www.ridingarizona.com from under it like you had it prior but please the darker logo.

That's it for this page. It looks great.

[stwilson]

Here are the changes for the forum page.

I am not liking how the navigation menu looks now, in my opinion it looks to small compared to the rest of the page. Maybe it would be a good idea to make the navigation for this page text only instead of using images. As it is now it won't scale. Let me know what you think, do you want me to try a simpler navigation system?

btw. I am going away for easter on wednesday so I won't be able to do any work until next week.

Anne

Anne,

I agree. The nav looks out of place. I am thinking a text-based navigation might fair better for scalability but I have seen some graphic based navs that are presented in such a way that they look scalable (http://cgart.tothproducts.com/forum/default.asp or http://www.mybirthcare.com/forum/ or http://www.masterao.com/forum/default.asp). The key for me is I need the ability to have multiple links under each category. I prefer a nav that will tie into the forum layout easily. I know that limits your design ability.

Other points:

1. I like the banner at the top.
2. I like the logo withOUT the www.ridingarizona.com under it.
3. I like the treatment of the logo from the first page. Can you do that on this page too? It looks like a 1 or 2 pixel blur around the edge.
4. The brown forum cell color is the wrong brown. Can you change it to the same color brown as the logo?
5. I hate the olive green color. Could you try the sky blue (from the top of the page) color so I can see what that would look like?

That's it for now. Hope you have a fantastic Easter.

[Anne]

Here are the changes for the main page

[Anne]

Here's the forum

I've removed the images from the navigation but kept the white background that will scale with the rest of the page. Also made the links text instead og images.

Anne

[stwilson]

Here are the changes for the main page

Anne,

Almost there on the home page. I really like the treatment on the Riding Arizona logo, with the www.ridingarizona.com under it on this one. Removing the white makes me like it this way. I will want it the same way on the forum pages too.

A few other minor things I didn't notice before. The login and register buttons do not have the same rounded edges. The rounded corners are curved differently. Can you make them look similar? Also, on those same two buttons and behind the Welcome To Riding Arizona section, it looks like you used the old brown that was lighter as the base color. I could be wrong but just an observation. Not a big deal but I wanted to point that out in case you thought they should be darkened some.

[stwilson]

Here's the forum

I've removed the images from the navigation but kept the white background that will scale with the rest of the page. Also made the links text instead og images.

Anne

Anne,

Almost there!!! :D

1. The logo is a little too large on this page. Can you shrink it to 150 pixels wide for the forum page? I think this should make it about 113 pixels tall. Also, can you apply the same treatment on the logo as you did on the homepage with the URL under it?

2. After you shrink the logo, can you adjust the height of the sky on this page so that it ends up lining up somewhere close to the horizontal line in the Riding Arizona logo?

3. Can you take the photo string (6 pics) you are using for the navigation on the home page and replace the line of quads that are on the bottom of the forum page with that? Since this will be on every page, that string of photos is more representative of our entire user base. I would like it to stretch the width of the page like the existing pic but am open to your design skills. I like the treatment (faded in from the top) you have on the string of quads but again I am open to your design suggestions.

4. The navigation looks very bland. I know, I know. Text is bland. Is there anything you can do around the border of that white section to add some depth? If not, I am considering staying with your navigation inside a table/cell like I have on the existing Riding Arizona site. Again, I am open to your professional opinion.

That's it. For the table cell colors, I can control them in my forum setup so I will play with them until I get the right color scheme to satisfy my team. Thank you for your design!

[Anne]

Changes for the home page.

Corners on buttons fixed but I made one button light and one dark so you can see the difference.

Anne

[stwilson]

Changes for the home page.

Corners on buttons fixed but I made one button light and one dark so you can see the difference.

Anne

Anne,

Looks great. That would be a rap! No more changes requested on this page.

[Anne]

Great.
Do you want the buttons to be the light/dark brown?

[Anne]

Ok, here's what I've done with the forum page.

- Logo made smaller, added text
- Navigation: added the same border as on the logo as well as some shadow to make some depth
- Footer: made some adjustments to the photo string that's on the home page so it would fade better. I can make this a long sting with all different images or you can use it as it is now and just repeat it.

Anne

[stwilson]

Anne,

That looks good. Cut and print.

[Anne]

Just letting you know that I am almost finished with the home page. Only struggeling a bit with the drop down menu. Do you have a good script I can use for that?

Anne

[stwilson]

Nope. I was relying on you for that. :)

[Anne]

I'll take care of it. I have a script I can use.

Anne